Banana Shpeel: What a Slip Up

We've been lucky enough to see some great theatre since arriving in the US, but this afternoon was the exception to the rule. We went to see Cirque Du Soleil's latest production Banana Shpeel at the Chicago Theatre, or BS as I prefer to call it.
Being the author of a spiel myself, I couldn't wait to see how the professionals handled it. It's billed as part vaudeville, part dance, part comedy. Unfortunately it turned out to be part repetitive, part stupid, part irritating.
I wouldn't have known it had anything to do with Cirque had it not been for the title. If I were them, I'd take my name off it now.
It opened with an audition scene, not unlike my own in Holy Neuteronomy! When I wrote mine, I knew it wasn't exactly uncharted ground, but as an amateur, what do I know?
Well, quite a lot apparently. They produced ridiculous characters that were irritating when I first saw their counterparts on TV in the early 1960s. Their jokes weren't funny the first time, and I'm afraid it doesn't make them any funnier just because you repeat them later on in the show.
The energy was lifted by the dance scenes, but even they lacked originality. There were a couple of reasonable balancing acts, but one male pole dancer does not make up for a wasted evening's entertainment.
However, the strangest thing of all was the reaction of some of the audience members. The women on either side of us seemed to find the comedy hysterically funny. One of them was sipping wine throughout the first half which may have explained why.
The event wasn't a complete waste of time, fortunately. The theatre itself is beautiful.....